Serious Questions About HPV Vaccine

Merck’s Gardasil Now Fighting Numerous Reports Of Serious Side Effects

(CBS)  The hope is that Gardasil will prove to be a lifesaver, preventing deadly cervical cancer. But today Merck's HPV vaccine is dealing with a growing number of reports of serious side effects, CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports.

Jamie Venice passed out and had a seizure after her Gardasil shot.

“After the seizure I didn’t want to go to bed; I thought I wasn’t going to be able to wake up,” she said.

She was lucky compared to Amanda Ratner. She came down with an illness so excruciating, she had to take morphine. Her parents, both doctors, blame Gardasil.

“She’s gone from a position of being a competitive varsity lacrosse player in high school to someone who’s chronically ill,” her father, Dr. Scott Ratner, said.

Gardasil was approved in 2006 for girls as young as age 9. The conservative-funded public interest group Judicial Watch recently obtain more than eight 8,000 reports of adverse events reports under Freedom of Information law.

They reveal everything from massive wart outbreaks to seizures and paralysis. Of 18 deaths, nearly a quarter cited "blood clots."

Jessica Vega got the shot at school when she was 13. Soon after, she was paralyzed. It took a year of braces and treatment to get her on her feet.

Brittney Bell was 12. She and collapsed with brain inflammation and paralysis. Fourteen-year-old Jenny developed life-threatening paralysis that's resistant to treatment.

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Read Sharyl Attkisson's recent reports about vaccines at Primary Source blog.

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Merck and the CDC say Gardasil is safe and effective, and that they have not found a link to any deaths. They also say illnesses reported after vaccinations may not have been caused by the shot, and that Gardasil appears safer than most vaccines with "half the average" reported serious adverse events.

The CDC says it will continue to evaluate the data - while some families are evaluating whether their loved ones should have the vaccine at all.

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For more information on Gardasil, you can visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site, HPV Vaccine Information For Young Women. You can also check out what the Food and Drug Administration had to say about Gardasil when it licensed the vaccine in 2006.

[maurine9]

Thank you again Sharyl for this good reporting.Unfortunately these informative pieces always end up with a doctor repeating the CDC''s mantra at the end that this vaccine is safe(as they say all of them are). The CDC plans to review the data and the vaccine(absurd) and meanwhile more and more girls will get sick, some will die. How could anyone say that all these hundreds of girls suddenly got ill from something other than the vaccine? Gardasil MUST be removed from the market immediately and all these young girls need to be helped and then compensated and something needs to be done to the CDC and all those agencies and persons that push vaccines for profit with no concern for a life.

[kenhamlett]

This is an issue which has me puzzled. I see great potential in this vaccine that could save so many women being ravaged by cancer. Then we learn of the long obscured information that many vaccines have serious side effects. In this situation it looks as much like a quality issue more than a fundamental problem with this vaccine theory. It looks like for now all we can do is hope Merck will find out how to refine their product. The warts and blood clots are very strange.
Also this is a mother/daughter decision to assess the risks versus the need of the vaccine. It seems that abstinence is once again looking like a good idea. I really like the idea of a vaccine to help women but adjusting their lifestyle choices might also be a good idea.
KC, Keep us informed. While I can''t personally benefit from a solution, I can hope for better options for the next generation of young ladies.

[kenhamlett]

Woops, typo correction. I should have said FROM being ravaged since this is not a cancer cure. I would not want to raise false hope due to lousy typing.
Ken

[linwessels]

Heartbreaking! Absolutely heartbreaking!! When will our government out the interests of our children before the special interests of pharma. Hmmm....perhaps when our children can line their ever deepening pockets and counter their political reliance?

Thank you for the report. At the very least, the public will be once again enlightened.

[linwessels]

whops...me too...typo...should be PUT our children first. sorry.

[linwessels]

It appears safer than other vaccines?!? Unbelievable!! Paralyses and death%u2026.and it appears safer?!? By their own admission, Gardasil has half the amount of adverse reactions reported. This statement is meant to be reassuring to the public. Quite frankly, I''m terrified!!!

[euthman]

First, Sharyl Atkinson allowed herself to be manipulated by plaintiffs'' lawyers in her grossly unscientific piece on the bogus link between autism and vaccines. I was willing to forgive that, as Dr. John LaPook wisely avoided involvement. Now, however, he has signed on to tonight''s hysterical report on Gardasil, which is nothing but a politically motivated smear campaign by an ultraconservative group. The fact that symptoms were observed after giving the vaccine doesn''t mean the vaccine caused the symptoms. If you really want to be panicked by adverse drug reactions, look into aspirin and Tylenol, which actually are dangerous. Also, any side effects of Gardasil pale before cervical cancer, which Gardasil prevents.

[spadeisspade]

While HPV is the number one factor in the cause of cervical cancer, the cancer itself is rare. It''s also very treatable if actually detected; often it isn''t, because women do not get regular exams. I''ll never trade the potential side effects of an STD vaccine for keeping up with my reproductive health. It really does seem like the vaccine gives a false sense of security.

[newsjunky5]

I''m glad they made this vaccine mandatory for schoolgirls in Texas. Hopefully they''ll work the bugs out with these guinea pigs before my kids get old enough to consider getting it. I don''t really care about the welfare of schoolgirls in Texas, and neither do their politicians or big pharm.

[toxouts]

Each injection of Gardasil exposes the recipient to hazardous doses of aluminum -- a neurotoxin -- and other chemical ingredients. See the math at

http://www.sailhome.org/Concerns/Vaccines.html#HPV

[grammaknows]

It is SO reassuring that the CDC wants to see more girls die or be injured before any caution or action is taken.

How about it Moms & Dads? Is it ok with you if your girl becomes a statistic? How about if the doc said to you, "There have been 25 deaths and 3,000 injuries reported with possible connections. That''s not enough for proof. Sign here."

[bluestardad]

HEY MEDICAL FIELD

CURE SOMETHING

ANYTHING!

QUIT MAKING MONEY OFF TREATING ILLNESS!

PROVE TO AMERICA YOU ARE WORTH THE BILLIONS SPENT EACH YEAR ON YOU!

[angela94-2009]

Thank you Sharyl Attkisson and CBS for providing key information to parents who need to make decisions about whether to give the HPV vaccine or not. My son was injured by a vaccine and I will go to my grave never understanding why one human being (pharma or my son''s pediatrician) NEVER told me the about the true risk of vaccines or about the untested ingredients in my son''s vaccines. U.S. Doctors are not practicing informed consent when giving these vaccines. Thank you Sharyl for being an ethical and caring investigational reporter. Keep up the exellent work for our nation''s children. We need more reporters like Sharyl Attkisson.

[mswolfestock]

The drug company does not care that Guardasil is dangerous because it is for females. This is just like birth control pills. The drug companies don''t care that women risk heart atacks, strokes, etc as long as they don''t get pregnant. I had to quit taking birth control pills because I developed migraine headaches and a doctor said I would have a stroke if I did not get off of the Pill.

To all mothers I say this - quit letting the drug companies use your daughters like so many guinea pigs. There is no definitive proof that this dangerous vaccine even works. The drug companies are run not by scientists but by greedy businessMEN who are much more interested in their profits over your daughters'' health and safety.

[shortyinmo]

Let me proceed first by saying IF this drug is causing all these side effects it will be pulled from the market. There has to be a lot of reserch done.

Now anyone who has raised children-do you remember sitting in the doctors office with your child who was 3months, 6months, 1 year, 2 years and listening to the doctor tell you all the potential side effects of getting your children immunized? I definitly do. It was scary as hel! Brain swelling from the HIB, difficulty breathing from the MMR. However I think it is fair to say most parents have taken that chance with their children because in the long run you want to keep them safe and rather than loose them to a disease that can be prevented, I took a chance.

I had cervical cancer, and so has my 23 year old daughter. Would I have taken a risk with her, you bet your as$. If it could have kept her from going through the things she already has been I would have.

Where is our story on men who suffer with 4 hour stiffs? Seems a little like biased reporting

[timc51]

Hacks!
Anecdotes are not science.
This doesn''t inform or educate the public, it confuses them. There''s no reason to assume that these diverse "adverse reactions" have anything to do with the vaccine. This could scare some people away from the vaccine, and one day some people may actually get cancer as a result.

CBS News: Scientifically illiterate hacks!

[vanitydog]

I had strain 16, almost got a historectomy, had cone surgery, went to a Chinese doctor, Guo, (google it) and virus gone. How about that !

[4marlene]

Just vaccinate the democrats. that should take care of everything eventually.

[proimm]

It is a sad day that so called educated people are not listening to the science behind immunization. Further, it is incredible people are citing a former playboy playmate as their authority on vaccines. My generation were the ones who were exposed to polio, diptheria, measles, pertussis, mumps, and chicken pox. My brother-in-law nearly died from polio and my cousin became deaf from meningitis. How conveniently we forget the lessons learned from the scourge of these diseases. The truth is there have been dozens of precise worldwide studies (not sponsored by the pharmaceutical companies) done on the safety of vaccines. They are largely ignored and discredited. Further, if one looks at the global increase in autism in the world, the rates of autism are high in countries with low vaccination rates. The backlash against vaccination will only result in the increase of childhood preventable diseases with its possiblities of disability and death. None of the anti-immunization advocates think of the danger to which they are exposing their children or the rest of the public. That lesson will be learned when these diseases make a comeback because of complacency.

[dzylizz-2009]

When I was 26 I became infected with the HPV virus. I saw my gynocolgist every 6 months because I was sexually active and between paps it had gone from nothing to precancerous. The pain from the biopsy was unbelievable. I choose to have laser conization of my cervix. This was fine until I became pregnant 4 years later. I almost lost my daughter at 13 weeks and had to have my cervix stitched up. Here it is 20 years later and my paps are still extrememly painful.

My daughter is 15 and just received her 1st of the 3 shots. If I can possibly prevent her from having to go through what I went through...Hell yes!!!!
Maybe the shot isn''t for everyone but for all the millions of woman who have received the shot and there''s a handful of incidence I think that may outweight the odds.
I personally want to send a thanks for the vaccine.

[pbxb2]

I''m a nurse practitioner and highly recommend the vaccine, I don''t force any patient to get any vaccines, but I''m a firm believer if you can prevent a disease you should. I give the parents and teenager girls the information on the vaccine to make a rational decison for themselves. I have two boys and will vaccinate them when it is approved for them. I have seen 12, 13, 15, 16 and 18-28 year olds having cervical dysplasia which leads to cancer. They have to have colposcopies (cervical biopsies) yearly, pap smears every 3 months for 1-2 years and even Leep procedures (burning and cutting away the abnormal cells on the cervix) at a young age. If you have never seen or had a leep procedure done it''s terribly painful. I wouldn''t wish this procedure on my worst enemy. They may come up with something better in the future, but for now if I can prevent something I will try. All of our vaccines have risks, but the benefits on most out way the risks. This is the way we have erraticated devastating diseases. The CDC and FDA have not put any warnings out on this yet. I have had numerous girls get the vaccine without any side effects. The only try way to prevent this disease (and others) is total abstinence (no touching of genital parts at all). I''m sorry to say this will never happen in today''s society.

[longdm2003]

Not sure where to stand. I had hpv been through the horrifying Leep procedures (burning and cutting away the abnormal cells on the cervix) when the conizations didn''t work and had two 25 + hour labors because of the scar tissue left from these procedures, it took me 16 hours to dilate to a 1 with my last child not only were the procedures painful but having nurses manually breaking through scar tissue trying to get my cervix to dilate not so fun either. I have a 12 year old daughter who has had two of the three series of gardasil shots so far no problems. A little scared for the third one but we have until November to get it, hoping there might be some more definate information by then. She had one in April and one in June she has had no problems with either of them. Don''t know if there is a right or wrong answer this early on with something like gardasil. It''s like anything else, in ten years it will be a miracle cure or a cancer causer, toss up, who knows.